Marilyn Monroe Historian in progress and vintage enthusiast.

Marilyn was married three times during her lifetime, the first one with James Dougherty in the early 1940´s, the second time with Joe DiMaggio in the early 1950´s and the third time with Arthur Miller in the late 1950´s-early 1960´s.

Norma Jeane and James Dougherty

Norma Jeane first met James Dougherty through their families and beacuse they lived in the same neighbourhood. Marilyn and James´ wedding took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chester Howell in California, on June 19th, 1942, when Norma Jeane was only 16 years old.

In late 1943, "Jimmy" joined the merchant marine and was assigned to teach ocean safety on Catalina Island in California. Jimmy, Norma Jeane and their dog Muggsy moved to an apartment on Catalina Island together.

Norma Jeane and Jimmy on Catalina Island /Norma Jeane at a zoo on Catalina Island, 1943.

Norma Jeane and Jimmy had lunch at the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel, march 1946.

As their marriage was in a dead end, Norma Jeane and James divorced in the summer of 1946. Norma Jeane still chased her dream of becoming an actress, with taking modeling and radio jobs, in order to find a way into the bussines.

Quotes;

"Norma Jeane was always a butterfly. She was beautiful all of her life, whitin and whitout. During our courtship and marriage I never stopped loving to be with her, to stare at her, to laugh with and love her. We had a wonderful, joyful marriage. But in the end it was not enough for Norma Jeane. Like all butterflies, she had to fly away." - James on Norma Jeane and their marriage.

"Norma Jeane wore a pure white, long silken dress, with a short veil, attached to her thick, curly hair. It was a borrowed dress, but that didn´t matter to either of us." - James on Norma Jeane´s wedding attire.

"I never knew Marilyn Monroe, and I don´t claim to have any insights to her to this day. I knew and loved Norma Jeane." - James, Untied Press International, 1990.

"My marriage brought me neither happiness nor pain. My husband and I hardly spoke to each other. This wasn’t because we were angry. We had nothing to say." - Marilyn.

Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio

Marilyn met the baseball star Joe DiMaggio in early 1950´s. In 1952 and 1953, they had a few dinners together and Joe visited her on the sets, during filming of some of her movies. She also watched him play baseball a few times.

On January 14, 1954, Marilyn and Joe got married at the San Fransisco town hall.

After a lot of travelling earlier that year, the couple where back in hollywood and went through some difficulties. In March, 1954, Marilyn flied back to Los Angeles and Joe went back to New York.

In the spring, Marilyn and Joe rented a house together in Beverly Hills. They stayed there for a couple of months.

Marilyn and Joe at El Morocco restaurant in September, 1954.

During the filming of the famous skirt blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch, Joe got enraged because Marilyn showed to much skin. When they went back to their hotel after filming, they had a big fight. It's reported that Joe became violent. Tears and raised voices were heard from their room. The next day, Marilyn arrived to the set with a lot of bruises, so they had to cover them up with makeup.

On October 6,1954, A heart-broken Marilyn announced to the press that the divorce proceedings had started.

Later that year, Marilyn and Joe got divorced.

Marilyn and Joe in 1961.

Quotes;

(On Marilyn desire to spend timewith joe DiMaggio during filming of How To Marry A Millionare) "She was going with Joe DiMaggio at the time. She would come into my dressing room and say ´Oh I really just want to be with Joe, eating spaghetti in San Francisco.´I thought, what a goal." - Lauren Bacall, 2005.

“From the beginning,” said close family friend Robert Solotaire, “he wanted to marry her.”

"I´ve always been able to count on Joe as a friend after that first bitterness of our parting faded." - Marilyn, 1962.

"I lost a lot of respect for Joe when I found out he hit Marilyn. I thought "How could any man hit such a beautiful creature?" - Stacy Edwards

“Nobody had been surprised when they got married — they had been going with each other for two years. Nobody doubted their love — they had smiled happily through their married life. And almost nobody professed surprised when they broke up — the conflict in their two careers seemed inevitable.”- Jerry giesler

Marilyn and Arthur Miller

Marilyn met Arthur Miller during the filming of ‘As Young As You Feel’ in 1951.

In June 1956, Marilyn organized a press conference to announce her upcomming wedding to playwrighter Arthur Miller.

The civil wedding took place at the Westchester County Court House, in White Plains, on June 29, 1956. The ceremony only lasted for a few minutes and only a few people were invited.

The Jewish Ceremony was on July 1st, 1956. Her bridesmaids were Amy Greene, Hedda Rosten and Judy Kantor. Earlier that day, Marilyn was converted to Judaism.

November 11th 1960: They made a public announcement that they´re going to divorce.

Quotes;

"I took her as a serious actress before I ever met her. I think she’s an a great comedienne,but I also think that she might turn into the greatest tragic actress that can be imagined." -Arthur Miller

“I no longer knew what I wanted, certainly not the end of my marriage, but the thought of putting Marilyn out of my life was unbearable.” - A note from Arthur´s journal.

"I am so concerned about protecting Arthur. I love him and he is the only person, the only human being I have ever known that I could love, not only as a man – to which I am attracted to practically out of my senses about – but he is the only person I trust as much as myself.” - Marilyn in Fragments

“She was a whirling light to me then, all paradox and enticing mystery, street tough one moment then lifted by a lyrical and poetic sensitivity that few retain past early adolescence. It was an ironical summer that I will never forget, my soul only half there (at work) and exhilarated with life and at the same time ridden with guilt. I loved her as though I had loved her all my life; her pain was mine” - Arthur

“First of all I took her at her own evaluation; I thought she was a very serious girl, because I loved her. Because I took that view, she thought the best of her was in my eyes” - Arthur

“The great thing about her to me, was that the struggle was valiant, she was a very courageous human being and she didn’t give up till the end” - Arthur, 1980´s

I know that many people have an opinion about Arthur and make up Joe as some kind of saint or hero. I would´t use the word hate, considering it´s a very harsh word. I have never met either of them and i don´t think that I should have very strong and harsh opinions about them. I can only believe what I read and hear from other people that were there. But to be honest, I´m not very fond of him, or Joe for that matter. Arthur did hurt her, by his words and opinions about her, but Joe hurt her too.

Marilyn and Joe´s marriage could be considered an abusive relationship. He allegedly beat her up and gave her bruises during the filming of The Seven Year Itch. Joe´s sister also made accusations that he broke Marilyn´s thumb in 1954. However you look at it, Joe was a possesive and jelous person.

I don´t see how anyone could say that Arthur didn´t love her and that he´s the reason that their marriage didn´t work out. I don´t think it´s our place to put all the problems or guilt on anyone´s shoulders. I think there is a lot of reasons why her marrigies didn´t work out and it wasn´t entirely either person´s fault. All of her husbands did good and kind things and they also did some things that were´nt so good, but it´s like that for everyone, right? Everyone makes mistakes and I believe that all of her husbands were good friends to her, but that marriage just didn´t suit them.

To be honest with you all, I'm not so happy that all of Marilyn's belongings are up for auction. I think that her belongings should be in a high-security museum so that people all around the world could go visit it whenever they'd like. Don't get me wrong, I would love to own something of Marilyn, but I still would rather have them in a museum than my own or somebody else. We may never see her belongings ever again, if the people that bought them don't want to. I just think it's a shame.

What if the sparkling dress Marilyn wore at JFK's Birthday Gala in 1962, is bought by someone to lock it up and never let anybody see it or photograph it, except maybe friends and family. I would have loved if her belongings were displayed in a museum where everyone can see them. What do you all think about the subject?

November 1954 ♡ Marilyn went to see Ella Fitzgerald perform at the Tiffany Club. At first, the club didn't want Ella to perform, beacuse of her skin tone, so Marilyn personally called the owner of the of the club and fixed so that Ella could play there. Marilyn said to the owner that if they would let Ella play at the club, she would come and take a front table every night. The owner said yes, and beacuse of Marilyn's fame, it got a lot of attention. Here's a part of a lovely quote said by the amazing Mrs. FItzgerald in an article for MS Magazine, 1972;

"I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt. It was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very popular nightclub in the ’50s. She personally called the owner of the Mocambo (who had refused to book Fitzgerald because she was black), and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him – and it was true, due to Marilyn’s superstar status – that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard… After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman – a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it."

There are a lot of confusion around this, but the truth is that this is not about El Mocambo Club at all. Marilyn visited the Tiffany Club to hear Ella sing, not the Mocambo club. The Mocambo had black musicians performed there before this, but Ella certainly was the first Afro-american singer to perform at The Tiffany Club. Probably, Ella just mixed the two clubs up and that's why she mentioned the Mocambo. It is a true story overall, the only thigs is that the club´s name was wrong.

It´s a tragic strory, but at the same time beautiful, beacuse it ended up with everyone happy. Ella got to play at the club and it helped her career a lot, Marilyn and Ella got to know each other better, many people got to hear Ella´s beautiful voice and it was also a step forward in accepting black musicians.